Following this recipe, your Homemade Buffalo Wings will rival any wings that you can buy in a bar. Buffalo wings are great in sufficient quantity as a meal or really a luxurious snack if entertaining a group. The key to great Buffalo Wings is perfectly cooking in a deep fryer and coating in a flavourful sauce. Getting the right texture and flavour with juicy meat, crisp skin, spicy and vinegary sauce is the objective.
Considering the objective there is a cost to consider. If you need to buy separately the approximate 36 chicken wing pieces needed to make Buffalo Wings, it is expensive. I would guess that would cost at least $20 for the wings. There are also considerations regarding the cost of the oil for the deep fryer. That is probably at least another $10 if the oil is used only once. The economics of this recipe can be improved.
Getting Cheaper Chicken Wings
You can simply get free wings by removing them from the whole chickens you purchase. Chicken is a staple in my home. Consequently, the weekly activity of preparing my chicken includes removing the wings. Math calculation is as follows. Each chicken has 4 chicken wing pieces 8 chickens equals 36 chicken wings. To avoid having to count I keep a glass container with cover that holds about 36 pieces of chicken wings. When it is full or pretty close to full, it is time to make Buffalo Chicken Wings. Further it means I am breaking out the T-Fal deep fryer about every two month. Which is frequent enough for someone trying to watch their health.
Managing the Fryer Oil
Using a deep fryer is an investment in time. Once filled it is a good idea to fry something else. In my case French fries are always a hit. You can complement one fried choice with others when you are entertaining. This will make it more worthwhile.
Once the oil is cooled down enough there are many tricks to cleaning it so it can be reused. That is beyond the scope of the recipes I share.
Tips
- If you are starting out with frozen chicken wings. Marinate the wings in cool water with some salt. A quarter cup of salt in a large mixing bowl should be enough. Marinating poultry is often the right choice. You can adjust the marinade to help make this recipe your own.
- Dry the wings well on paper towels. This will help with the crisping process in the deep fryer.
- The sauce is simple in this example. You can take it many different directions by adding something else. If you think the Frank’s RedHot Sauce can be substituted give it a try.
Ingredients
Sauce
- 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup of Frank’s RedHot Original sauce
- 2 tablespoons of Tabasco sauce
- 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
Buffalo Wings
- Oil for your deep fryer
- 3 tablespoons of cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 36 chicken wing pieces (Approximately)
Dressing and Vegetables
- 2 carrots cut into serving sized sticks
- 4 celery cut into service sized sticks
- 75 grams of blue cheese
- 3 tablespoons of buttermilk
- 3 tablespoons of sour cream
- 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon of sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder
- Salt and pepper seasoning if desired
Directions
Dressing and Vegetables
- Mash the blue cheese and the buttermilk in a small bowl with a fork.
- Stir in the sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar and garlic powder. Continue mixing until you get a smooth texture.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper. Each cheese is different so this might not be a necessary step. Store in the fridge.
- Wash and prepare your vegetables.
Sauce
- Melt the butter in a sauce pan.
- Whisk in the hot sauce, brown sugar, and vinegar.
- Keep warm while working on the wings.
Buffalo Wings
- Heat the oven to 200 f. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Heat your deep fryer to 360 f.
- Combine the cornstarch, salt, pepper, and cayenne in a small bowl.
- Put the wings in a large bowl and sprinkle the seasoning you just made on top. Mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the wings are seasoned.
- Fry the wings in batches of about 12. Your deep fryer might be a different size. Adjust the batch size so that the wings are not on top of each other. Cook for 10 minutes and then place on the baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while frying the rest.
- Once all the wings are fried. Pour the sauce in a clean large mixing bowl and toss the wings in the bowl until they are all coated.
- Assemble and serve.
Enjoy